Poly Art Museum
Museum of repatriated bronze zodiac fountain heads looted from an imperial water clock, alongside ancient Chinese bronzes and Buddhist stone sculpture.
This guide to the Poly Art Museum in Beijing follows twelve bronze zodiac heads that once spouted water in turn from an imperial fountain clock built for the Qianlong Emperor, before British and French troops burned the Old Summer Palace and scattered them abroad in 1860. You'll hear how, more than a century later, Chinese buyers began chasing the heads down at auction and through private deals to bring them home. It traces the emperor's Italian court painter who designed the clock, and the collectors who went looking for what he built. Look closely at the bronze details on display.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.